George MacPherson, former executive director of American Theater Productions and president of Masque Sound, died June 3 in Orangeburg, S.C. from lung cancer. He was 78.
MacPherson is credited with helping to “bring down the curtain on bus-and-truck road shows and usher in the big-box-office age of polished national touring companies,” according to The New York Times.
His career began as a veterinarian for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and included roles as a press agent and manager in the 1960s and 1970s.
He led American Theater Productions as executive director in the 1980s and early 1990s and was president of Masque Sound from 1997 until his retirement in 2000.
MacPherson is survived by his daughter, Morag, of Brookdale, N.J., his wife, the former Judith Winter; his sons Duncan, of Hartford, and Malcolm, of Toronto; a sister, Dee Deibel of San Rafael, Calif.; and two grandchildren.
